1. Field of the Invention
The ability to synthesize oligonucleotide sequences at will and to clone polynucleotide sequences prepared by synthetic procedures or obtained from naturally occurring sources has greatly expanded the opportunities for detecting the presence of specific sequences in an extended oligonucleotide sequence, e.g., chromosome(s), mixture of sequences, mRNAs, or the like. Interest in specific sequences may involve the diagnosis of the presence of pathogens, the determination of the presence of alleles, the presence of lesions in a host genome, the detection of a particular mRNA or the monitoring of a modification of a cellular host, to mention only a few illustrative opportunities. While the use of antibodies to perform assays diagnostic of the presence of various antigens in samples has seen an explosive expansion in techniques and protocols since the advent of radioimmunoassay, there has been until recently no parallel activity in the area of DNA probes. Therefore, for the most part, detection of sequences has involved various hybridization techniques requiring the binding of a polynucleotide sequence to a support and employing a radiolabeled probe.
In view of the increasing capability to produce oligonucleotide sequences in large amounts in an economical way, the attention of investigators will be directed to providing for simple, accurate and efficient techniques for detecting specific oligonucleotide sequences. Desirably, these techniques will be rapid, minimize the opportunity for technician error, be capable of automation, and allow for simple and accurate methods of detection. Toward this end, there have already been efforts to provide for means to label oligonucleotide probes with labels other than radioisotopes and for improving the accuracy of transfer of DNA sequences to a support from a gel, as well as improved methods for derivatizing oligonucleotides to allow for binding to a label. There continues to be a need for providing new protocols which allow for flexibility in detecting DNA sequences of interest in a variety of situations where the DNA may come from diverse sources.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Meinkoth and Wahl, Anal. Biochemistry (1984) 138:267-284, provide an excellent review of hybridization techniques. Leary et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA (1983) 80:4045-4049, describe the use of biotinylated DNA in conjunction with an avidin-enzyme conjugate for detection of specific oligonucleotide sequences. Ranki et al., Gene (1983) 21:77-85 describe what they refer to as a "sandwich" hybridization for detection of oligonucleotide sequences. Pfeuffer and Helmrich, J. of Biol. Chem. (1975) 250:867-876 describe the coupling of guanosine-5'-0-(3-thiotriphosphate) to Sepharose 4B. Bauman et al., J. of Histochem. and Cytochem. (1981) 29:227-237, describe the 3'-labeling of RNA with fluorescers. PCT Application WO 83 02277 describes the addition to DNA fragments of modified ribonucleotides for labeling and methods for analyzing such DNA fragments. Renz and Kurz, Nucl. Acids Res. (1984) 12:3435-3444, describe the covalent linking of enzymes to oligonucleotides. Wallace, DNA Recombinant Technology (Woo, S., Ed.) CRC Press, Boca Raton, Florida, provides a general background of the use of probes in diagnosis. Chou and Merigan, N. Eng. J. of Med. (1983) 308:921-925, describe the use of a radioisotope labeled probe for the detection of CMV. Inman, Methods in Enzymol. 34B, 24 (1974) 30-59, describes procedures for linking to polyacrylamides, while Parikh et al., Methods in Enzymol. 34B, 24 (1974) 77-102, describe coupling reactions with agarose. Alwine et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA (1977) 74:5350-5354, describe a method of transferring oligonucleotides from gels to a solid support for hybridization. Chu et al., Nucl. Acids Res. (1983) 11:6513-6529, describe a technique for derivatizing terminal nucleotides. Ho et al., Biochemistry (1981) 20:64-67, describe derivatizing terminal nucleotides through phosphate to form esters. Ashley and MacDonald, Anal. Biochem. (1984) 140:95-103, report a method for preparing probes from a surface bound template. These references which describe techniques are incorporated herein by reference in support of the preparation of labeled oligonucleotides.